Iran: Stop arming terrorists in Syria
Iran has warned against the continuation of mistakes by the US and its allies in arming militants in Syria, saying such wrong policies violate international regulations.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, said on Sunday that training and arming the so-called moderate opposition forces in Syria is a repetition of previous strategic mistakes which have led to the creation of the ISIL terrorist group and al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.
“Under the circumstances that the threat of terrorist groups poses a serious danger to regional and global security, the insistence of the United States of America and some countries on the continuation of this wrong policy and [their] insistence on a wrong approach will bear no fruit but destruction and victimization of more innocent people,” Afkham added.
She said the UN silence on this move by the US and some regional countries is in contravention of the body’s efforts to stop conflicts in Syrian city of Aleppo.
Afkham also urged the US and its allies to respect the UN Security Council’s resolutions, particularly the recently-approved Resolution 2199, and take serious action to stop financial and logistic support to terrorists.
On February 12, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2199 which urges member states to take steps to prevent terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria from benefiting from trade in oil, antiquities and hostages as well as from receiving donations.
Source of conflict in Syria
Syria has been grappling with deadly violence since March 2011. The Western powers and their regional allies – especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – are arming and funding militants to fight against the Damascus government.
Reports show that the violence fueled by the militant groups has claimed the lives of an estimated 210,000 people so far.
Washington says it is striking ISIL positions in both Iraq and Syria, but there is skepticism on both sides of the border about the real objective of the airstrikes.
The US and its regional allies had been the leading supporters of the ISIL and other affiliated militant groups operating against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
